Israeli plainclothes police detained the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem on Tuesday, saying he was in the city illegally.

Jamal Othman Nasser, appointed to the post by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, was taken into custody while meeting another Palestinian official in Arab East Jerusalem, the governor's lawyer said.

Nasser's lawyer, Jawad Boulos, told Reuters police took his client into custody on grounds he lacked an Israeli permit to enter Jerusalem.

Nasser lives in the West Bank village of Abu Dis, outside the municipal borders that Israel set after capturing Arab East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. However, Abu Dis is inside Jordan's pre-1967 borders for Jerusalem.

Boulos said he was told Nasser would be released later in the day. Police declined to comment. (Albawaba.com)